2004 Dodge 1500 Hemi Factory Fill 636 Mi.

[CMT]

Factory fill- not sure what Chrysler puts in, but probably 5W-30, which is what Blackstone called it- on a new 5.7L Dodge 1500 4x4, purchased off the lot 1/05. Sample was taken 2/2/05 at first oil change and stored in a glass jar until 2/12/05 when my first kit came.

Element Sample Reading Univ. Avg.
Aluminum----------4---------4
Chromium----------2---------1
Iron--------------41--------23
Copper------------130-------45--Highlighted
Lead--------------0---------5
Tin---------------0---------2
Molybdenum--------140-------28
Nickel------------1---------1
Manganese---------4---------1
Silver------------0---------0
Titanium----------0---------0
Potassium---------5---------1
Boron-------------51--------47
Silicon-----------7---------13
Calcium-----------1284------2045
Magnesium---------7---------237
Phosphorus--------620-------796
Zinc--------------776-------979
Barium------------0---------0

Property Tested Value "Should Be" Value
SUS Visc.------49-------------54-61--Highlighted
Flashpoint-----385------------>365
Fuel----------- Antifreeze-----0--------------0
Water---------- Insolubles-----0.4------------
Blackstone Sez:
"We've highlighted copper in your sample, but except for this one quite high wear-in metal, your engine is really doing well at the first oil change. High wear and silicon are both common finds in oil samples from new engines. The wear is high due to break-in of new parts, while silicon is from sealers and sand-casted parts. Your silicon was exceptionally low. Universal averages show typical wear metals for an oil from this type engine after 4,735 miles use. We expect your engine will look in a couple of samples. Try 3,000 miles for the 2nd sample."

Being a first sample on an unknown factory fill, there probably isn't a lot of info we can gain from this analysis, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyhow. At this oil change, I went with Schaeffer's Supreme 7000 5W-30 and a PureOne filter. I plan to change it out after 2,000 miles and then go to 3,000 mile intervals on Schaeffer's 5W-30 in cold weather and 10W-30 when it's warm with CarQuest/Wix filters. I know a lot of you will probably tell me that I'm crazy for changing Schaeffer's that often, but the manufacturer calls for it, plus I just enjoy changing my oil. So anyhow, make of this what you will. I plan to do analysis at every oil change to maintain a good record of my truck's internal condition, so we'll see how it looks in a couple thousand miles.

 

[Whimsey]

Yes, your copper does seem to be a "bit" high for only 636 miles on the oil, even if it's the original factory fill. Your iron is up there but not outrageous. I noticed that the oil viscosity is a 20 weight oil. I thought I read that They are using 5W-20 in that engine for 2005. Maybe they used it in your's if it was a late production model. If that's not the case I'd be real curious as to why the 5W-30 became 5W-20 in only 636 miles

. With your oil change regiment It seems like you're throwing real good oil out far too soon. Are you sure that for your warranty you have to change the oil every 3,000 miles? that seems unheard of now a days unless you are doing severe duty driving constantly. I love Schaeffers and use it myself but I run it for 8,000++++ miles. Well, if you're buying it from Salesrep he loves you

. Maybe you want to check out the UOA section and see if there are any other posts with your engine to see how they compare. I'd definitely have an UOA done on the next oil change to see if the copper and iron are heading down. Other than those the wear look ok, but then again there's only 636 miles on the oil. A friend of the wife has a 2004 Rumble Bee with the Hemi. SHE loves it. A bad azz girl in a bad azz truck. What a combo

.

Whimsey

 

[CMT]

Perhaps they did use a -20wt at the factory for some reason- build date, break-in, whatever. That oil was VERY thin when I drained it. The manual recommends 5W-30 for all temps, though, but 10W-30 is OK when above 0. Which is good- I don't think I could bring myself to put anything -20 into my truck. If I wasn't worried about warranty, I would be running 5W-40. I'm not particularly worried about any of the wear metals at this point- being only the first 636 miles and with an unknown oil, I figured most of the numbers would be higher than they were. The next analysis will start to tell more of the story, though wear metals will still probably be high. At least the oil wil be a known entity. As for my drain intervals, I guess I should say that for now I'll be doing 3,000 miles. Perhaps once the engine is good and broke in, I'll invest in a TBN analysis and see what the oil has got left after a few thousand miles. The service interval recommendation for this area is 3000 miles, at least in winter. There are two schedules- perhaps the other is 5k miles, and is OK in warmer weather. Also, the owners manual makes no distinction in drain intervals between synthetics and conventional oil. For the extra 50-100 bucks a year, I like to change my oil a little more often. Actually, 3k is a stretch for me- I always tried to change the conventional oil in all my other cars at 2k.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I think the engine is wearing in very nicely. I would not worry about the copper at this point. It could be wear from cam bearings, oil pump, leaching from cooler, etc......As long as it trends down it is no big deal. I would not even bother doing a UOA on this again until you have at least 5000 miles on it and a few more oil changes! BY 5000 miles most of any leaching that might be going on should have slowed down enough to let you know if the copper is from wear or not!

 

[BlazerLT]

Just because of this report don't start throwing good synthetic down the drain at 3000 miles.